ethnographic research cost action: from sharing …...the process of analysis writing ethnography...
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EthnographicResearchCOSTAction:FromSharingtoCaring
PennyTravlouUniversityofEdinburgh
24June2017Troyes
Ethnography
• Ethnographyisthefirsthandpersonalstudyofalocalculturalsetting.
• Ethnographerstrytounderstandthewholeofaparticularculture,notjustfragments(e.g.theeconomy).
• Theearlyethnographersconductedresearchalmostexclusivelyamongsmall-scale,relativelyisolatedsocieties,withsimpletechnologiesandeconomics.
WhatisEthnography?Ethnographyisamethodologywhichinvolvesimmersioninthesocialworld:watching,listening,talkingandparticipating.
Theresearcher’sobservationsandexperiencesformthedata.
“Thickdescription”(Geertz)“The exclusive and immediate goal of
ethnography, as of all social research, is to produce knowledge”
Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography
(Clifford and Marcus, 1986)
• From participant observation to “writing” • Ethnography as process • Partial truth • Experimental • Ethical • Reflexivity • Dialogical mode • Co-authorship
Ethnographic Research DesignEthnographic Research Methods
A. In-situ fieldwork Participant Observation In-depth interviews (Or) focus group discussions
B. Online fieldwork Online platforms observation = discourse
analysis Online interviews (via Skype, Jitsi, email)
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EthnographicResearch■ Researchdesign:problems,cases,samplesinfieldwork■ Access■ Fieldrelations■ Insideraccounts:listeningandaskingquestions■ Documents■ Recordingandorganizingdata■ Theprocessofanalysis■ Writingethnography■ Ethics
(Hammersley,M.andAtkinson,P.(1983)Ethnography.Routledge)
researchplanning
entrée
datacollectio
n
interpretation
ensuringethicalstandard
sresearchrepresentation
EthnographicProcessDesign
EthnographicStudy–DataProcess
ResearchEthicsStrategyFederal Guidelines – Consent Form
1) Fair explanation of the procedures to be followed and their purposes;
2) Description of the attendant discomforts and risks reasonably to be expected;
3) Description of the benefits reasonably to be expected; 4) Disclosure of the appropriate alternative procedures that might
be advantageous to the participant; 5) An offer to answer inquiries concerning the procedures; 6) An instruction that the person is free to withdraw consent and
to discontinue participation in the project at any time without prejudicing the status of the participant.
Multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork Focus on cultural processes that are not
contained by social, ethnic, religious or national boundaries.
The ethnographer follows the process from site to site, often doing fieldwork in sites and with people who traditionally were never subject to ethnographic analysis.
As George Marcus describes it, “multisited research is designed around chains, paths, threads, conjunctions, or juxtapositions of locations” as ethnographers trace “a complex cultural phenomenon . . . that turns out to be contingent and malleable as one traces it.”
Multi-sitedEthnography
• A multisited ethnography also offers the possibility of juxtaposing more than one place and more than one point of view, thereby bringing to light connections among them that would otherwise remain unsuspected or undetected.
• Paul Rabinow, “Reflections on Fieldwork in Alameda,” Making PCR
Netnography• Netnography=InterNET+EthNOGRAPHY NetnographyisdoingEthnographicstudyonline• Internet–sourceofinformationforusers’productchoices&
designofproducte.g.peer-to-peerplatforms• keeprecordofinteractions
• Forresearchers,netnographyprovidesculturally-groundedunderstandingof:
• language• meanings• practices
TheStagesoftheEthnographicStudy
• Followthecommunity• Followtheartefact• Followthemetaphor• Followthestory• Followthelife• Followtheconflict• Followtheline(Followtherhizome)
ReflexiveFieldwork
• Fieldworkisviewedmoreasadialogue,aco-productionbetweentheethnographerandthenativeinformant.
•Reflexivityexplores“thewaysinwhicharesearcher'sinvolvementwithaparticularstudyinfluences,actsuponandinformssuchresearch."
(NightingaleandCromby,1999,p.228).
CollaborativeEthnography
• …anapproachtoethnographythatdeliberatelyandexplicitlyemphasizescollaboration
• ateverypointintheethnographicprocess,withoutveilingit—fromprojectconceptualization,tofieldwork,and,especially,throughthewritingprocess…yieldstextsthatareco-conceivedorco-writtenwithlocalcommunitiesofcollaboratorsandconsidermultipleaudiencesoutsidetheconfinesofacademicdiscourses,includinglocalconstituencies…
P2PEthnography• P2PEthnography,asEthnography,canbedefinedasaqualitative
researchdesignaimedatexploringculturalphenomena.DifferentfromEthnography,itsaimisnottoproducefieldstudiesorcasereports,buttoestablishcontinuouslyavailable,accessible,participatory,performativeandcollaborativeprocesseswhichallowgainingunderstandingsabouttheknowledgeandthesystemsofmeaningsinthelivesofasocialgroup,anditsinteractionswithotherones.
• P2PEthnographyrepresentsaparticipatory,performativeapproach,inwhichresearchandunderstandingrequiregainingawarenessofone’spositionwithintherelationalecosystem(fromcultural,emotional,aesthetic,perceptive,cognitivepointsofview)oftheobservedsocialgroup,andtoestablishormodifyrelationsandinterconnectionsbothwithinthegroup,outsideofit,andin-between,influid,dynamic,possibilisticways.
(adaptedfromAOS)
HumanEcosystems
P2PEthnography: PrototypeProtocol4stages
Stage1:perceivedorganisationalmodels• Whointeractswithwho?• Whoisresponsibleforwhat?• Whoisrelatedwithwho?
Stage2:Communication/Information/Knowledge• WhodoIcommunicatewith?• Whodeliversmeinformationandknowledge?• TowhomdoIdeliverinformationandknowledge?• Wheredoestheinformationandknowledgethatisdeliveredtomecomefrom?• Whereisitheaded?• AmIthe(wo)man-in-the-middleforinformationandknowledgeofsomesort?• WhataretheknowledgereferenceswhichIuse?• Aretheyhuman?Websites?Texts?Oral?• WhatknowledgedoIproduce?• Arethesetypesofflowsunidirectional,bidirectional,a-directional?
P2PEthnography: PrototypeProtocol4stages
Stage3:Missedopportunities• Whatinteraction/information/knowledgewouldIliketohave?• WhatwouldIneed?• Whohasthisinformationorknowledge?• How/when/wherewouldIliketohaveit?
Stage:Knowledgesharing• WhatknowledgedoIproduce?• DoIplantoshareit,transmititormakeitaccessible/available/usablein
someway?• Usingwhichtools,technology,media?• Dedicatedtowhom?• Interoperablewithwhat?• Withinwhichknowledgeecosystems?
P2PEthnographyToolkit
• Polyphonicunderstanding• Micro-histories• ThirdInfoscape(*theinclusivespaceofcommunication,informationandknowledgebasedonamultitudeofco-exisistingself-expressionsandself-representations).
DesigningaP2PEthnography
• Multi-sitedEthnography• CollaborativeEthnography• RhizomicEthnography• Polyphonicfieldsite
spaces
practices actors
CollaborativeEconomy
EthnographicResearchFramework
InitialQuestions–CountryReports
• Whatisthetypeandmodelofcollaborativeeconomythatisused/representedinthiscasestudy?
• Whoarethekeystakeholdersininthiscasestudy(e.g.government,localauthorities,non-profitorganisations,businesses,socialinnovation,grassrootsinitiatives,groups,individualsetc.)?Whatisthentheecosystemofcollaborativeeconomyinthiscasestudy?Isitatopdownorbottomupinitiative?
• Howsustainableisthiscasestudy?Whatarethemechanismsandstrategiesimplementedtosecureitssustainablefuture?
• Howistechnologyimplementedinthiscasestudy?Whatarethetechnologicaltoolsusedtosupportit?
EthnographicResearch:GenericThemes
• Generaldescriptionofcasestudy• Space/locatione.ginternational,transnational,national,regional
• Actors/Stakeholders:government,localauthorities,NGOs,startups,grassrootsinitiatives
• Activities:how‘casestudy’isused• Technology:collaborativeplatform,socialmedia,plug-ins
EthnographicResearch:CollaborativeEconomyThemes
• Definitions• Legislation:nationallevelandtransnationallevel• Decisionmakingpractices• Usability
• Impactonnational/localeconomy-society
• Stakeholders• Commerce
• Consumers:collaborativeconsumption?
• Profit/budgeting
• Management,maintainance• Sustainability• Barriers/obstacles• Businesspartnerships• Funding/crowdfunding• Currencyoptionseg.Bitcoin,faircoin• Participation
• Labour:digitallabour,precariousness,employmentopportunities,affectivelabour,workers’rights,legislation
• Culturalvalues:nationale.g.sharingvalues,gifteconomy
• Accessibility,inclusivity,digitalliteracy/divide
• Licensing:e.g.CreativeCommons• Opensource?
EthnographicResearch:Keywords
• Trust• Ownership• Collaboration• Participation• Attribution• Risk• Conflict• Failure
• WhydousersuseAirbnbinsteadoftraditionalaccommodationand/orotherP2Pwebsites?
• WhatarethemostcommonlyperceivedrisksofusingAirbnb?
• WhichelementsofAirbnbprofilesorlistingsdousersfindmostimportantindecidingwhomtheycantrust?
• WhatarethemechanismsbywhichAirbnbengenderstrustamongitsusers?